10 kids in 20 mins !

I need your precious help to face my next gig. Every 10 minutes i'll receive a new group of 20 kids!!!

It's a real challenge for me

I think i'll prepare very simple designs and training myself before!

any ideas of designs, experiences to share or organisation advice?

*edited because I didn't read it correctly lol*

Line managers are great for organizing children (what they want, where they should stand)

and when i am in a hurry, I like to place the mirrors at a nearby table and direct the kiddos to it.

I had 4 designs to choose from and all of them were done with the same split cake, red white and blue.

Boys got spider, snake or fireworks
girls got princess mask, butterflies or fireworks.

Split cakes and glitter are your friend. lol

I echo what Melinda says - use that split cake, just a couple of ideas and definately have a line manager. If you don't have a line manager - then you can always have the kids line up according to what they want. Butterflies HERE, Snakes HERE, etc.

Good luck!

i know it's sound a little bit crazy!!!

Oh you are so kind as usual and i take your good luck!

It's for the 15th of july, so i have a little time to practice and practice and practice ;-)

make my own split cake and simplify my favorite designs

i'll show you the results of course

OK. Tell them they only have 1-2 choices using the same rainbow cake. Line them up and don't put them in the chair. Put down all the bases and then go back and do the line work. I would tell them all butterflies for the girls and batman for the boys. These two you could do in about 45 seconds to a minute each.

I will post a picture of my batman later to show you. I use the Midnight Sky split cake from TAG to put a night sky on their forehead only and then go back in with the black bat.


Otherwise this is totally unrealistic and I would tell the organizer so. If you don't, you are only setting yourself up to fail.


-Metina

I know it's sound a bit unrealistic... I'll discuss it tonight with my husband (i take this gig for me)

I agree...it doesn't SOUND unrealistic...it is unrealistic. As a painter that I not only admire but plan to become once body snatching becomes legal told me... if you do these events with hopes of getting future business, then doing this type of painting won't get you the type of business that you want. You teach people to value your artistic ability and assembly line painting only teaches them to expect the same thing and to plan accordingly. I have a friend who gets a LOT of these types of gigs and she's rapidly burning out because she primarily gets birthday parties where the parents expect her to paint 30-40 children in an hour. All that they've seen is her cookie cutter painting and balk at paying for 2 hours.

To me, this type of painting is a dream for the "just put something on her face" parents but it doesn't allow the client to appreciate your skillset. It's a slippery slope that I try to avoid...

I totally agree with you, until know i always had the time i wanted per face and my average time is between 5 and 8 minutes. I always announce that to the client to avoid desappointement.

Oups *sigh of relief* i've misunderstood its 10 kids in 20 min

less unrealistic but i still needed to be very efficient and quick anyway, so i keep your advice preciously

There is only ONE way I can think of to make this work. You do only eye masks and designs or tribals, and they get what YOU feel like doing.

Basically, some swirls, curls and tear drops in white and/or black and some glitter here and there. Maybe a tribal looking eye design on the boys.

Maybe the occasional butterfly tribal outline with little or no background color. I also hope you are getting paid by the person, no by the hour! And Do bring an assistant. Maybe let them do the glitter. Maybe each group in a color theme so you can hold a couple things of paint in your hand and GO.

WHY are you doing this to yourself?

Hum good question ;-) but I will be quite good paid for it (and i've just move so i need money in fact)

10 kids in 20 minutes is much better than 20 kids in 10 minutes. It can be done, and here's how I've done it in the past:

-Choose 4 designs that you can do QUICKLY, and print them out on separate sheets of paper.

-Instruct line helpers to bring the kids in and have them choose a design form FOUR lines based on which design they want. (One line for each design with the picture being shown where they should stand.)

-Bring one line forward and have them form a circle around you. Paint that single design (sorry no color substitutions) on each child's face as they are standing there. If the design involves sponging, multiple colors, etc, you may want to do assembly-style painting. Sponge the base on every face, then the linework, etc. This does involve using the same sponge and brush on each face, so if you don't feel comfortable doing that then you will lose a lot of time but it will still be quicker than loading single kids in the chair.

-Paint each group of kids in this fashion until all are painted.

If you need to be even faster than that, have a teacher standing nearby for the kids to go to for their glitter and to look in the mirror.

This isn't an ideal way to paint children of course... ideally it should be a special time when they get to sit in the special chair and you pay lots of attention to them. But when painting at schools, daycares or for theater productions it isn't always possible to spend that much time per child.

I've used this method several times and it's always worked great. You will likely paint faster than you knew you could, and even have a little time left over between groups of kids scheduled to enter. Being organized is key. Taking time to make sure the kids know how it's going to work, the teachers are on the same page, and your supplies are in order will be well worth it. GOOD LUCK!!

*phew* it makes me exhausted just thinking about (and reading about) it - but the ideas given are excellent ones and it does seem plausible done that way - it's obviously worked for them - so you can do it too!

Best of luck

oh wow! yeah I totally misread that
2 minutes per child sounds like an eternity compared to 30 seconds
lol

Yeah, what angie said!

Quick suggestions for girls
burrterlies with a fan brush and a rainbow cake around the forehead and cheek
split cake crowns
splik cake dolphin
butterfly mask

For boys
Split cake spider
split cake scorpion
split cake shark
split cake snake

these are all cheek art or half face designs

pick 2 for each gender and get your colors and lines ready to go.

Also, spray and activate your white and black before the kids start jumping at ya lol
It will save you some time having a small puddle of both line work colors.

Look at the faces on these about faces DVD's.. they are crazy simple:

http://www.sillyfarm.com/store/index.php?p=catalog&parent=702&pg=1 click on the DVD and then enlarge the picture so that you can see all of the featured faces for the product.

Also, split cakes, and a menu board.

Here is the super quick batman I promised.



Here is also a super quick mask using the new TAG Custom 50 gram: Tropical Breeze. Please forgive the awful teardrops. I am trying to train myself to push then pull instead of just push.